Letter: Hard work is ticket to the dream

In reference to your Feb. 8 article "Student loans create ticking debt bomb": U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said he talked to a law school graduate with $100,000 in student debt who had her "foot in a bucket," with no chance to buy a house or participate in the American dream.

To be born in this country is the American dream. The rest of the dream is what you make it. The $100,000 was a great beginning, so pay it back and go for the rest.

One thing wrong with this country now is we have a glut of college graduates. Ninety percent of my unemployed friends now are college graduates. Take a good look around you and see who the employed are.

I graduated on a Thursday night in May 1948 and joined the Navy on Friday. The next day I left for San Diego with an $11 loan from my mom, which was paid back from my first paycheck. The Navy fixed my teeth and trained me in a trade. After four years during the Korean conflict, I was discharged.

This country doesn't owe you anything, Mr. Cohen; we owe it. I paid mine. Pay your bills. Work had, and the American dream can be yours.